— OK, so neither the zoom-in on my iPhone nor the operator was capable of producing a sharp picture here.

But with the NHL trading deadline approaching, when two NHL general managers spend a morning skate sitting together at the top of the Pepsi Center’s lower bowl, as Joe Sakic and the Coyotes’ Don Malone did Monday — it’s going to draw some attention.

And perhaps raise some eyebrows.

Coyotes’ defenseman Keith Yandle, 28, especially a force on the power play, has a year remaining on his five-year, $26.5-million contract, and if Arizona’s housecleaning and rebuilding goes into high gear, he could go — despite the fact this is not some 34-year-old D-man heading into his final seasons. Mike Chambers summarizes Yandle as a player in our advance box this morning: Read more…

Reto Berra was in the Avalanche net against Boston Oct. 13. (Elise Amendola, The Associated Press)

The Avalanche goaltenders at Monday’s practice were Semyon Varlamov and Reto Berra, who had returned to the Avalanche following his five-game conditioning stint with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters.

And as of Monday night, Calvin Pickard still was on the Monsters’ roster after being sent down on Saturday. The AHL All-Star Game was Monday night in Utica, N.Y., and the league resumes play Thursday. The Avalanche has a light schedule over the next week, facing Nashville Tuesday and Friday, then not playing again until Feb. 3 at Dallas. The next “conventional” start for a backup goalie — whether it’s Pickard or Berra — probably would be in one of the road games on back-to-back nights, at Minnesota Feb. 7 and at Winnipeg Feb. 8.

After practice, I spoke with Berra, the 28-year-old Swiss who was 3-1-1 with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage for the Monsters. With Colorado, he is 2-2-1, with a 3.57 goals-against and a .882 save percentage, and he hasn’t played for the Avalanche since Dec. 5. Read more…

At the outset of Wednesday night’s Colorado-Boston game, Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard again will be watching Semyon Varlamov in the Colorado net. It will be Varlamov’s 12th start in the last 13 games, and he’s playing well again, so coach Patrick Roy’s decision isn’t eyebrow-raising at all.

Pickard, recalled for the fourth time this season on Jan. 12, hasn’t played since he had 44 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss at Carolina on Jan. 13. For the season, he is 6-6-3, with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. In the official league stats, he still is listed at No. 1 in save percentage, but his 15 games are right at the minimum to qualify, so continued inactivity will knock him out of that spot.

“It’s a nice honor, but I haven’t played nearly as much as the other guys around on that list,” Pickard said after the morning skate. “It’s a tough number to maintain and I’m lucky to maintain a good number so far for this season. I’d like to get back in there and maintain that same percentage.”

Semyon Varlamov is back in the Colorado net tonight for his fourth straight start. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Well, much to my chagrin, the NHL hasn’t banned morning skates since my previous stint covering the Avalanche and the league, so I was at the Pepsi Center Sunday morning as Colorado looked ahead to its 6 p.m. game against Columbus.

Patrick Roy said he would use the same lineup as he had against Edmonton Friday, meaning Zach Redmond would be the healthy scratch. He added he would tinker, putting rookie winger Borna Rendulic with Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog.

“I liked his speed and size,” Roy said of Rendulic, who got his first career goal against the Flyers on New Year’s Eve.

Pickard was playing so well for the Avs — their 5-2 loss to the Blackhawks on Saturday wasn’t really on him — that Roy was able to show some patience. He gave No. 1 goalie Semyon Varlamov more time to heal a groin injury.

And even though Pickard jumped from the minor-league development stage to a solid replacement role as the Avs’ part-time No. 1, it doesn’t mean he was meant for the NHL in the immediate. His drop back to Lake Erie was less a demotion and more a correction — he’s back where he was planned to be. Pickard’s time will come with the Avs (maybe still this season).

Colorado Avalanche’s Daniel Briere, right, uses his glove to knock in the puck over Calgary Flames’ goalie Karri Ramo, left, from Finland, as Calgary’s Brandon Bollig looks on during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014 in Calgary, Alberta. The goal was not allowed. (Larry MacDougal, The Canadian Press)

CALGARY, Alberta — The Flames and Avalanche meet Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in game between two teams going in opposite directions. Calgary is 16-8-2, much better than the 9-13-2 it was at this point last season. Colorado is 9-11-5, much worse than its 19-6 start a year ago.

The Avs are on a two-game trip, concluding a back-to-back on Friday at Winnipeg. We’ll have much more from the morning skate at the Saddledome, but for now, here’s what you might want to know:

Calvin Pickard makes a save on a shot from the Arizona Coyotes during the third period. (Christian Petersen, Getty Images)

So, we have a genuine goalie controversy on our hands, except it’s for the backup job, not the starter. Coach Patrick Roy says he will sit down with Avs GM Joe Sakic (still weird for me to write both those titles for these guys) on Sunday and debate what for Avs fans is their version of The Choice: Calvin Pickard or Reto Berra.

Roy said the other day the Avs will not carry three goaltenders (I think they learned last year that was a bit awkward and counter-productive for everyone involved) when Semyon Varlamov comes back off the injured list -which should be Monday night against Les Canadiens De Montreal.Read more…

The big news Friday was Patrick Roy saying he will not send rookie goalie Calvin Pickard back to the minors, nor will he keep three netminders. So when Semyon Varlamov returns from a groin injury — he practiced fully again Friday and says he’s fine — Reto Berra could be reassigned (waived) or traded. More about that here and in Saturday’s paper and online. And keep in mind: Roy could change his mind, or have his mind changed based on finances. Berra will make his $1.4 million ($1.45 million cap hit) wherever he plays, whereas Pickard makes substantially less in Lake Erie and is waiver-exempt.

About that headline: Erik Johnson didn’t have a concussion-type head injury. It was his neck that messed him up in Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime win at Arizona. EJ, who appeared to be knocked out, dangerously absorbed a hit by the Coyotes’ Martin Hanzal in OT while trying to shoot, and his follow-through resulted in Hanzal’s shoulder colliding with his head.

Alex Tanguay is likely to play against Chicago tonight. That’s the word from the team. He was a scratch last night with that facial fracture, despite flying to Arizona with the team.

The Avs say Erik Johnson will be a game-time decision for the game with Chicago. In case he can’t go, Karl Stollery has been recalled from Lake Erie and will play if No. 6 can’t.
Only four players were on the ice this morning at the Pepsi Center – Patrick Bordeleau, Jesse Winchester, John Mitchell and Semyon Varlamov.

The fact that Varly is back on skates is obviously a good thing. He took a lot of shots fro the three players, and looked good and mobile to me. Lots of side-to-side movement, lots of pushing off with the skates. He has been placed on injured reserve for the time being, however, partially to make room for Stollery. But if things progress the way they seem to going with Varlamov, it shouldn’t be too long before he’s back. At least, one wouldn’t assume. But wait, what happens when you assume things again?

The fact that Calvin Pickard is starting tonight is a nice reward for him from Patrick Roy. And, also, finally an admission from Roy that, no, Reto Berra isn’t playing too well right now. Roy laughed at questions Monday morning questioning Berra’s play. He’s not doing that anymore for the time being.

Mitchell skated for a while today, and then seemed to aggravate something at the end. He was hunched over in seeming pain, and left the ice right after that. No word on his condition moving forward, other than he’s still listed as day-to-day (aren’t we all).

I talked with Winchester the other day, and while he said he’s doing OK overall, he is still having problems related to the concussion suffered before the season. There are still some vision issues and things like that. It’s tough, and he’s frustrated by it. Just have to hope the symptoms lift.

Defenseman Ryan Wilson has probably played his last game with the Avalanche. Maybe he has a shot to return in the playoffs, but Colorado coach Patrick Roy said the 27-year-old Wilson will have season-ending shoulder surgery Wednesday. Wilson is in the final year of a three-year, $6.75 million contract, with a $2.25 million cap hit, and given his injury history — he has played 12, 28 and three games the last two seasons and this season — the Avs will likely used that money elsewhere.

PHILADELPHIA — Last year, that puck goes in the net in the final minute. Last year, the Avs would have found a way to get that big tying goal in the third period, with the goalie pulled, and they probably go on to win the game in OT or a shootout. All the kinds of games the Avs won last year, they’re losing this year.

The Avs fell to 4-7-5 (hut hut) by losing 4-3 here. A huge third-period rally fell short, with John Mitchell’s tying bid in the final few seconds blocked by a Flyers D-man, and that was that.

The turning point of the game was the Nathan MacKinnon 5-minute major on Luke Schenn in the first period. The Flyers got two PP goals out of it, and the Avs kind of were in disarray the rest of the second period, allowing two more goals – including a 5-on-3 one by Claude Giroux.

Patrick Roy blew a gasket after the call on MacKinnon, and I expected him to rip the call more after the game. To everyone’s surprise, though, he said he had “no problem with the call.” His reason for yelling so much, he said, was because he thought a linesman made the call on the major, not a referee.

Reto Berra protects the net for Colorado, with defenseman Erik Johnson, left, in the Avalanche’s victory over Toronto. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

PHILADELPHIA – The puck drops in less than five hours from the Wells Fargo Center, and the Avs are going with the same lineup as the last game, including the goalie, Reto Berra.

Patrick Roy did say that Semyon Varlamov will start the next game, Tuesday against the Islanders. Berra was supposed to start this game all along, but when he started Thursday’s against the Maple Leafs, it was assumed Varlamov would get the next one. Wrong.

Roy said he thought Varlamov might have been tired after his run of six straight starts, and with Berra playing well Thursday and the plan being that he would start here all along, it was decided to stick with that plan.

Some video from the morning. Roy starts out by talking about the decision to start Berra – and then I cut it off too soon, and wound up getting some footage of him talking about how Daniel Briere has handled his scratchings of late with class.
I never promised to be Alfred Hitchcock with these videos.

I doubted the Avs a bit Thursday night, and maybe me getting back into a glass-is-half-empty, it’s-always-half-empty mode will be what’s best for the Avalanche. I mean, when I’m positive about anything, does it ever happen? Don’t answer that.

I was about ready to stick the proverbial fork in the Avs Thursday night, a couple of times. The first, when they allowed another late goal to tie a game, this time with 1:16 left. Couldn’t clear the puck, couldn’t make the big play defensively and a game that was 3-2, a game the Avs desperately needed, was now tied.

The second time was when Nathan MacKinnon wiped out a 4-on-3 power-play advantage by interfering with Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier in overtime. And Toronto almost won it not long after that, but Reto Berra — yes, Reto Berra — came up with another big save to extend the contest to the shootout, where MacKinnon, Matt Duchene and Alex Tanguay all scored.

That was close. Too close. But a win’s a win. It was not a pretty one, but the Avs just have to be happy with scraping by and trying to get a little better every week for the time being.

The goalies at practice were Reto Berra, Calvin Pickard and Sami Aittokallio, and according to colleague Nick Groke, Berra and Pickard were mostly in the mix. As the linked story above states, Berra is the probable starter Tuesday against the Florida Panthers at the Pepsi Center, and Pickard will likely serve as his backup. Berra was available to reporters Monday, and that generally means he is 100 percent. Coach Patrick Roy said he will know more about his goaltending situation Tuesday after the morning skate.

Aittokallio will probably be sent back to the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean forward Dennis Everberg will be recalled after beginning the season with the Avs — and then being sent down to make room for Aittokallio. Forward Jesse Winchester (concussion) skated on a limited basis with the team Monday and will replace Aittokallio on the 23-man roster when he’s cleared, assuming he doesn’t have any setbacks. Barring other injuries, the Avs won’t have both Everberg and Winchester on the roster, because coach Patrick Roy likes to keep just 13 forwards, allowing him to keep eight defensemen.

Everberg, 22, is on a two-way contract in his first season in North America. While he played on a line with Ryan O’Reilly and Gabe Landeskog last week, the top nine forwards are currently set and he is not suited for a fourth-line role, as Winchester is. But certainly, we have not seen the last of Everberg this season.

KANATA, Ontario — Evolving game story is here. The rewrite will have quotes from Patrick Roy, Calvin Pickard and John Mitchell.

Pickard, who arrived in Ottawa from Chicago after 4 p.m. ET, less than three hours before the start of the game, could be the first of two AHL call-up goalies to join the Avs this week. Roman Will is the scheduled starter for the Lake Erie Monsters on Friday in Chicago, but he might be headed to Montreal instead. Roy had no postgame update on Reto Berra, who was injured 2:46 into Thursday’s game against the Senators. Which might mean he’s still be evaluated for a concussion. Roy said he hadn’t spoken to the trainer and declined to say if the injury is to Berra’s head or neck.

“He had some treatment for his groin but didn’t feel well enough to play,” Roy said of Varlamov, who participated in the morning skate.

Pickard was beaten by a sneaky Bobby Ryan wrister — a goal-scorers goal — and probably should have stopped the game-winning shot by Clarke MacAuthur. But nobody’s blaming Pickard for blowing another third-period lead, second straight. Roy counted 13 turnovers for his team — the stat sheet says 10 giveaways — and the Avs were out-classed 11-3 in takeaways.

“He made some great saves there, and we cannot say this is his fault. It’s absolutely not,” Avs defenseman Jan Hejda said of Pickard. “That situation is obviously not easy for him. He comes in this afternoon and goes straight to the net. This is the NHL and he played well.”

BOSTON — Because of post-game interview requests, the last two players to leave the Avalanche dressing room at TD Garden on Monday were new additions Jarome Iginla and Daniel Briere. Iginla, of course, played last season for the Bruins, and by now, you all know Briere was super clutch in the Avs’ 2-1 Columbus Day win.

Briere, whose 53 career playoff goals are tied for 45th most all-time, scored with a half-second left in regulation to give Colorado a much-needed goal and two points, their first triumph of the young seasons. It was Briere’s 300th career NHL regular-season goal. The online game story that will turn into a different online/print version is here. The notebook will be in the same vicinity, as well as a look at Tuesday’s opponent, the Maple Leafs in Toronto, with a spotlight on top-line center Tyler Bozak, the former Denver Pioneer.

Danny Briere:

Some observations: If Reto Berra is a problem, he’s a good problem to have. At this rate, Varly’s backup will make more starts than any of us anticipated a month ago. Berra has been berry, berry good since his first preseason start — my pick as No. 1 star Monday. … Say what you want about Nathan MacKinnon, maybe the NHL’s fastest skater, playing with 30-somethings Alex Tanguay and Briere. Too much speed paired with too much age? The line produced the shift of the game Monday. … The Avs have improved after every game this season, which is good because the opener, of course, was a horror show. They played much better in the second game against Minnesota and Monday’s win at Boston was their best performance of the season. … Defenseman Ryan Wilson missed most of the third period to an apparent concussion, after being struck in the head by a puck. I thought Wilson was hit in the midsection, because he tried to stretch — or shake — it off, and lined up for a defensive-zone faceoff immediately after. But he was clearly uncomfortable and, the more I think about it, he could have been completely out of it, not knowing what was going on. Zach Redmond or Nate Guenin will replace Wilson on Tuesday. … The boom box was blaring in the Avs locker room after the game, always a difficult environment to record conversations but nevertheless easier to do your job.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.

Chambers covers college and professional hockey for The Denver Post. He has written for the Post since 1994, after dumping his first 9-to-5 office job a couple years out of college. He primarily follows the University of Denver hockey team and helps cover the Avalanche.